text: Aldehydes (except those without an alpha carbon, or without protons on the alpha carbon, such as formaldehyde and benzaldehyde) can exist in either the keto or the enol tautomer. Keto–enol tautomerism is catalyzed by either acid or base. In neutral solution, the enol is the minority tautomer, reversing several times per second. But it becomes the dominant tautomer in strong acid or base solutions, and enolized aldehydes undergo nucleophilic attack at the α position.